


the em-bear-diment of love

by jakepurralta



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: Amy is in love with an idiot pass it on, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, lots of puns
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-11
Updated: 2015-11-11
Packaged: 2018-05-01 05:16:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5193656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jakepurralta/pseuds/jakepurralta
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jake, Amy, and a bear suit. He makes bear puns, and she thinks she might love him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	the em-bear-diment of love

It was one of those rare days in which Captain Holt has given Jake the day off, and Jake had accepted the offer. The precinct was a bit low on urgent cases and Captain Holt had insisted that the rest of the team could handle them in Jake’s absence.

Besides, after Jake started dating Amy, she had inspired him to take better care of himself. He started to actually eat sandwiches for breakfast and even had an appointment at the dentist next week. More importantly, he learned that there were more things to care about than just work, and so he agreed to stay at home for the day, while the Sarge was running the precinct and Amy and Holt were off…on a case, or something. That’s all she would tell him, and he reluctantly agreed not to pry when she urged him not to do so.

So Jake had a pretty relaxing day. He spent most of it watching re-runs of Law & Order while still in his boxers and t-shirt, eating ice cream straight from the jar because his girlfriend wasn’t around to tell him that was a disgusting habit to have. (“I’m gonna finish it anyway!” “No, you’re not. Your eyes are bigger than your stomach.” “That’s just weird, my eyes aren’t bigger than- oh, I get what you did just there.”)

He was surprised to hear someone fiddling with the lock of his door around 4pm and jumped up from the couch, feeling a little on edge as he tip-toed towards the door to open it. His suspicions faded when he was close enough to the door to hear a familiar voice on the other side softly cursing in frustration, obviously because her key wouldn’t work. He decided to put her out of her misery and swung the door open, very pleased with her presence because he had to admit, a day without work or her, or both, was rather dull. “As I live and breathe, Amy Santiago coming home from work at 4p-“

He was completely rendered speechless when he saw her standing in front of him wearing a brown bear costume. Sans the head, because she was holding it in her hand and clearly, she wasn’t wearing it on her head because it reeked of dry orange juice and its face had been drawn on with several colors of markers. Judging by the police badge that was sown on the poor bear’s chest, this was the event with Captain Holt that she didn’t want him to know about.

That had a good reason, even he knew it, because he instantly thought of six different things he wanted to shout at her, even though he knew that humans are only capable of saying a single word at once. So he just stood there, dumbstruck, mouth open as he took in the sight of her and he finally started noticing the things that were more important.

For instance, her weary eyes and crestfallen expression. He realized that her coming home at 4pm, like this, was not a good thing at all and any desire he had to make fun of her outfit perished, his facial expression changing to a more softened one.

“Is everything alright?” He asked, in that same tone of voice he always used whenever the two of them had a conversation with their guards down.

She moved past him, shoulders brushing against one another, going straight for the couch. “I’m fine. I just had a rough day, I guess. I’ve been gone all day with Captain Holt, visiting elementary schools to educate children about what life is like as a police officer. And despite all this,” she gestured at herself, “none of the children liked me. None of the children, and I’m talking about at least a hundred. The last kids stole my clothes so I had to ask the Captain to drive me home!”

Jake was still standing near the now closed door, looking at his dejected girlfriend from afar, suddenly unsure of what to do with his hands. Even though he thought he had matured quite a bit in the past year, he was still the same guy who was uncomfortable with emotions, and she was telling him that one kid called her Ms. Crabby Pants and he wanted to laugh, but he also saw that she was genuinely saddened by today’s events and all he wanted to do is everything in his power to make that go away.

So he settled for sitting down next to her, putting his arm around her and watching in silence as she continued to get her feelings off her chest. A few years ago, neither of them would’ve believed it if someone told them they’d be pouring their hearts out to one another, but it ended up turning into something they often did after a particularly difficult case and it was a mutually beneficial thing that became familiar and necessary to the both of them.

“And I just started thinking…I’ve always been bad with kids. It never really bothered me before, but…” Amy stopped herself, promptly letting a silence stretch between them, and Jake wondered if it was because she was pondering how to continue that sentence or if she regretted her words already.

“But what?” His hand was now stroking her arm, something he was more or less doing unwittingly. He wasn’t even sure if she was feeling it at all beneath the suit.

He felt her body move up and down as she let out a sigh. “What if my _own_ children end up not liking me?”

Her words hung heavy in the air, and Jake felt a rush of emotions surge through his entire body. He wanted to grab her and shake her, screaming, “you’re crazy for thinking this!” He wanted to tell her that he was going to stand by her side no matter what, and that together, they would be the greatest (and probably most embarrassing) parents to ever grace the planet. He wanted to tell her all about how he was imagining plotting with the kid to sneak cookies out of the kitchen while Amy wasn’t looking (“I mean, uh, that is _not_ going to happen.”) and how Amy’s intelligence was going to prove extremely useful when homework assistance iwas needed. He desperately wanted her to know that he thought she would be an amazing mother and he could be an amazing father if she wanted him. It kind of scared him to the core, to think like this, but he definitely thought that the kid would not only be hers, but also _his_ on more than one occasion. Actually, he thought about _children with her_ very often and whenever that happened, he felt an odd, tingly sensation in his chest which could only be explained by the fact that excitement at the mere thought of making little humans with her was absolutely beating the fear.

He felt her shift under his arm and it yanked him back to reality, reminding him of the last words she said. “You…want children?” he asked, more because he didn’t really know what else to say to her besides all the things he wanted to say but probably shouldn’t because it might scare her off.

She sniffed softly. “At some point, yes. To be honest, I thought that maybe Teddy and I were going to get there one day, but…” Her voice trailed off at the mention of her ex-boyfriend and at the same time Jake felt his body tense up. “Sorry.”

“No, it’s fine. You guys were pretty serious.”

Amy felt the need to change the subject. “What about you?”

“Hm?”

“Do you ever want children?” She caught him a bit off guard both by the question, and the fact that she leaned into his chest and rested her head on his shoulder.

“Uh, I guess I did mention once or twice that I think I’d be a good father. So yes. Yes, I want children. That is…odd coming from the mouth of an actual grown up child.” He laughed, more to himself than anything else, but she joined him in his laughter and he was grateful for it, because it removed all tension about the subject and he wondered if she felt his heart beating wildly as she chuckled, face first into his shoulder.

They stayed like this for a solid, carefree minute when Jake’s mind wandered to his own father. “I’m going to be better.” His voice was soft but certain. “I had a good, bad example, and I’m not going to follow it.”

Amy put her (furry) hand on his shoulder, gently pushing herself up to meet his gaze. “I’m sure of it.” She moved in closer, her lips meeting his for a gentle kiss when suddenly, he completely ruined the moment by bursting into laughter, his face jolting against hers. She moved away from him, glaring at him while he tried to compose himself.

“I’m sorry,” he managed to choke out while his face went a little red from struggling to breathe, “it is _bear-y_ strange to kiss you while you’re wearing that.”

“Okay.” Having now completely lost him romantically, Amy sunk back into the couch with her arms crossed. “How long have you been waiting to say that?”

By now, the color of his face had (mostly) returned to its regular state, though he was still grinning like a madman. “Since I opened that door. So basically, since _bear-ever_.”

She rolled her eyes. “And yet, you powered through my emotional distress to wait until now.”

He nodded. “Hm-hm. The urge was… _un-bear-able_.”

“Okay.” Amy uttered, putting her hands (paws) in the air in defeat as she stood up from the couch. “I’m going to take this off.”

“Amy Santiago!” He dramatically yelled after her, obviously relishing in all the puns. “Don’t _a-bear-don_ me!”

The door to the bathroom slammed shut, a little louder than he expected, but he knew that she wasn’t really mad. With a smirk that he just could not wipe off his face even if he wanted to, he walked over to the door. “Aw, come on, Ames. You’re not _bear-y_ mad, are you? Because I will have you know that if you want the honour of having Jake Peralta, the amazing detective slash genius slash boyfriend, you’re going to have to put with the occasional _bear-rage_ of puns. Especially if you show up in a costume like that. I honestly don’t know what will _bear-come_ of our relationship if you draw the line at puns.”

Finally satisfied with the amount of puns he had thrown her way, he waited for her response, but there was none, so he knocked on the door. “Ames? You okay in there?”

For a moment, he thought she was giving him the silent treatment and he was about to walk away (while making a mental note to ask her later if she really hated his puns or not) when he heard her call him from the other side of the door. “Jake? Can you help me out here?”

When he opened the door, she was still dressed exactly the same as she was when she entered the bathroom, except now she had that pouty face that he thought was just devastatingly cute and he was briefly reminded of why he was so attracted to her in the first place. “What’s up?”

She intentionally avoided his eyes, looking embarrassed. “The zipper is on the back. I can’t get this suit off without your help.”

“Oh.” Jake said, before realizing what _else_ that could mean. “Oh! Amy Santiago, are you telling me that I am no longer the only person who has seen you undressed in this world? Who helped you? It couldn’t have been Rosa. Was it Gina? Was it Boyle?” He gasped as he thought of the next possible person, sheer glee spreading all over his face. “Was it Captain Holt?”

“Jake! Snap out of it! Just help me here.”

“…can you say the magic word?”

She sighed deeply, lips forming a thin line as she forced the words, “Can you pleasebe a _gentle-bear_ and help me out here?”

A bark of laughter erupted from Mount Peralta that was so hard he actually threw his head back and had to put his hand on his stomach. “I actually just wanted you to say ‘please’ but that turned out way better! I am so writing that down later. Alright, turn around.”

“Ugh, finally. I was sweating like a pig in this thing.”

“Uh…actually…” Jake started again, holding up a finger as Amy spun around, this time, with actual annoyance on her face.

“What? What is it now?”

“There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you.” He was dead serious now.

“What?”

His eyes trailed from hers down to the suit and back up.

“Oh. Oh, no! Jake, you know I’m down for some weird stuff, but having sex in a bear suit is just plain _wrong_.”

“What?!” Jake let out, defensively taking a step backwards. “That’s not what I meant! How would that even be possible? You’d have to make a hole in the- That’s not what I meant! What I meant was, a hug.”

She raised her eyebrows in confusion. “A hug?”

“You’re dressed like a bear, you look very warm and comfortable, and I would like to know what it’s like to hug you like this. Besides, you’ve had a rough day, you deserve it just as much as I do. It’ll be a win-win situation.” He opened his arms and cocked his head a little, giving her his best puppy eyes.

Fighting the urge to roll her eyes (she’d get dizzy from doing it so much) at her idiot boyfriend that she maybe sorta kinda really loved, she pushed his arms down to take matters into her own hands (to which he said ‘ooookay’ like he always did when he was being a dork) and she enveloped him in the biggest hug she could offer him.

“Hm…” He murmured with his face into the fur of her costume, feeling utterly content in this moment. “So comfortable. So warm.”

Even though he’s been pushing her buttons so much tonight, Amy had to admit it did feel really good to hug her boyfriend after a long, exhausting day like this. She figured she’d just tell him what happened, he’d tell her it’d be okay and she’d go to bed early to get a little bit more sleep before going back to work the next morning.

Before Jake, she’d be like Captain Holt, reasoning that the release of serotonin and dopamine in her body because of this embrace was the sole cause of her mood instantly being improved. But now she was with Jake, she was in a relationship with him, she was Jake’s girlfriend and he was her boyfriend, and his arms would be at the ready for her whenever she felt worse for wear and there was a strange little bubbly feeling inside of her that she only ever experienced since she started dating him.

In the end, she could reason all she wanted, giving scientific and psychological explanations to her behavior, but it all really came down to one thing. She knew that Jake would always have her back, and she knew, deep in her heart, that she maybe sorta really loved him.

And one day, she would be ready to tell him just that.

For now, she couldn’t even _bear-gin_ to imagine her life without him in it.

**Author's Note:**

> [!!Superwoman!! voice] What up, finally posting a Jake/Amy fic after two long-ass months of absence?! The idea for this fic came to me as I drove home from work, and lately I tend to think a lot about these idiots when I do so, which is weird. Anyway, last time that happened, I posted it on Tumblr, and imbadwholf wrote a fic based on it called "Better than pizza" (go check it out!), this time I decided to try it myself. All the bear puns were written with Teddie from Persona 4 in mind. Man, I love that bear. I may have resisted initially, but he truly has bear-dozed his way into my heart.


End file.
